On the same property that the convertable came from used to be a hino contessa in the hay shed owned by his father, as i remember it from 25 years ago was in perfect condition.When we went to the classic jap car show there was a guy wanting one. I promised i would find out for him?Well i have bad news for him as when the owner died the sons the put car outside to fend for itself with a farm full of other unused motoring history,mostly truck,tractors and a few old bikes.A scrap metal dealer came in with a excavator and cleared 50%of this collection and now when you drive past your local hyudai dealer spare a thought for little contessa .I was fortunate that the gt was in a seperate paddock however most of the parts were inside the house which was lucky as there is other stuff there that is probably just as exotic as the gt.This paddock has railway carriges,shippng containers,pantechs oozing, i mean filled to the brim doors open parts sloping to the ground,bits that i bet could put some smiles on some faces.Who knows what got squashed it was better not to ask as you cant turn back time.This guy could make a fortune [ebay could be his friend].sorry Dave Gregs rant

I'm after a Contessa as well (see my GT wanted ad)...I've got no doubt most of the few that existed have been crushed or taken to the tip over the years. The rest seem to be in WA. I heard a rumour there is one in Mt Gambier, but it's an old unsubstantiated rumour.

Ah, the Hino Contessa 1300. There is at least one other forum member looking for one of these. I had the fortune (?) of driving one quite a bit in 1977. A mate (Ding) owned one & sold it to my first ever girlfriend. I taught her to drive in it. A bench-seat 4 on-the-tree. It had a few quirks - The left back door catch would sometimes release. Ding thought this was a good party trick - He'd sit the loudmouth of the group in the adj. seat & put it into a sudden right turn & watch them grapple for 'b' pillars, etc. (no back seatbelts!) Fun! The Disc brakes were excellent (well, compared to a Bellett), but not progressive - you push a bit - nothing, a bit more - nothing, then "Bam" there on & you're stopped! And that motor - in line 4, south-north in the back, with a blow fan pushing air thru the radiator & grille. Very backwards! Chuck it into a corner & you could be going - very backwards! Get it right, though & you could get a bit of a drift! She dumped me, so last I saw it, it had a leaky waterpump (we couldn't get parts even then) & was sitting in her Dad's garage. Funny if it's still there, but I doubt it, 'cause he didn't like it at all (and he had a Datsun 120 Y!) Should go look when I'm in Sydney. Cheers, Matt.

_________________Life is far too short not to fill it with what you love. - Jackie French.[/size]

I'm yet to see a Contessa in the metal, although needless to say I'd probably fall over weak at the knees.

I imagine the odd Contessa owner has to say, "You know how Hino make trucks, yeah? Well they used to make cars too" which is the standard line I give re: Isuzu Belletts.

So ownership of one of them would be out of the frying pan and into the fire!

I do believe outspoken and geriatric motoring writer Bill Tuckey stated that they were the only car he drove that could understeer and oversteer at the same time and he has put them on his most hated cars list more than once... along with the Bellett GT... "Damned thing tried to kill me! Twice!".

Hmm, methinks he didn't appreciate the awesome build quality, the tidy styling or the notion that you must be forever ready to catch oversteer when you least expect it.

I think my GT has oversteered when it was parked. But some Belletts appear to be worse than others too...

If you go to the site randon pick of pr10 on this site and go though the list of cars, there is a Hino Contessa there for sale. I have seen one for sale in Brisbane many many years ago, it was a red one.was at Doug Pantons Prestige cars. South Brisbane.Geoff

The sedans are interesting, but the Coupes are hot (see attached Pete Brock - not our Peter Brock - BRE racer), but seems very few left Japan and I've never heard of one in Australia (although they made the price lists back in their day). Westco were the Aussie importers.

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